One-piece sheet metal tray construction



March 27, 1956 c. o. LARSON 2,739,733

ONE-PIECE SHEET METAL TRAY CONSTRUCTION Filed NOV. 15, 1952 2 CHARLES O. LARSON ONE-PlECE SHEET METAL TRAY CONSTRUCTION Charles 0. Larson, Sterling, lll., assignor to Chas. O. Larson Company, Sterling, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 15, 1952, Serial No. 320,781

2 Claims. (Cl. 220-62) This invention relates to a new and improved one-piece sheet metal tray construction, especially designed and adapted for use in shops and other places, in which to keep small tools and the like, but suitable for various other uses.

The principal object is to provide a tray construction of the kind mentioned that is simple and economical to manufacture and adapted to be placed on a bench or shelf or else fastened to the wall.

A salient feature of the present tray construction is the provision of integral end walls that are struck on an are at the front lower edge to conform to the curvature of the bottom of the trough-shaped body portion for neatness in appearance, these end walls having the rear portion made square for locating and supporting engagement with the wall on which the tray may be mounted, and having their bottom edges fiat so as to be adapted to rest squarely on a bench or shelf on which the tray may be placed.

Another important feature is the provision of inturned flanges on the end walls arranged to be overlapped by the top corners of the front and rear walls of the troughshaped body portion of the tray and secured in such relationship by interfitting projections and recesses.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in Which Fig. 1 shows on a slightly smaller scale than the rest of the views the fiat sheet metal blank from which the tray of my invention is formed;

Figs. 2 and 3 are a front and rear view, a completed tray.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the tray, and

Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional details on the correspondingly numbered lines of Figs. 2 and 3, respectively.

The same reference numerals are applied to corresponding parts throughout these views.

Referring to the drawing, the sheet metal blank 10 shown in Fig. 1 comprises a rectangular main middle or body portion 11 on the opposite ends of which are integral extensions 12 and 13 that are also generally rectangular in form except for the arcuate edges 14 on the inner ends of these extensions. This blank is punched from the flat sheet and requires only the bending of the rectangular main body portion 11 into a trough 11a, providing a wide fiat middle bottom portion 15 and upwardly curved front and rear bottom portions 16 and 17 and fiat vertical front and rear walls 18 and 19, as indicated in Fig. 4, and the bending upwardly of the extensions 12 and 13 into parallelism to provide end walls 20 and 21 for the tray, the arcuate edges 14 conforming nicely to the curvature of the front bottom portion 16 of the trough 110, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 4. The blank 10 is slitted along lines 22 at opposite ends of the main middle portion to permit curving the portion 17 upwardly relative to the extensions 12 and 13. While I prefer, for the sake of economy, to leave the ends 20 and 21 free, except for the interlocking feature, which will soon be described, they could easily be soldered or welded to the ends of respectively, of

tates Patent 0 the trough 11a. The end walls 20 and 21 are shown secured in abutment with the ends. of, the trough-shaped body 116'; by means of the lugs 23- and 24 provided on opposite sides of the extensions 12 and 13, these portions being bent inwardly at right angles to the end walls 20 and 21 to define flanges for abutment with the outer sides of the front and rear walls 18 and 19 of the trough 11a. The ribs 25 and 26 struck outwardly from the main middle portion 11 at the four corners thereof register with and fit snugly in ribs 27 and 28 struck outwardly from the flange defining lugs 23 and 24. If the upwardly curved portions 16 and 17 normally define arcs of larger radius than when the front and rear walls 18 and 19 of the trough 11a are confined behind the lugs 23 and 24, these walls tending to spring outwardly serve to hold the ribs 25 and 26 firmly engaged in the ribs 27 and 28, whereby to lock the end walls 20 and 21 in assembled relation to the ends of the trough 11a.

It is clear from the above description that I have provided a one-piece sheet metal tray construction that is simple and economical to manufacture and will find many uses in shops and other places for the handy storage of small tools and other articles. The fiat bottom 15 of the trough 11a is of advantage when the tray is placed on a bench or shelf. The square rear corners on the ends 20 and 21 serve by abutment with the wall to support the tray squarely on a wall in parallel relation to the back wall 19 of the tray when screws or nails are entered through the keyhole slots 29 provided in the back wall 19. The tray is, therefore, adapted to be used either way with equal ease and convenience. The blanks 10 are in end to end relation in a long strip, and cut from the strip by cutting along lines ab, like that shown in Fig. 1.

It is believed the foregoing description conveys a good understanding of the objects and advantages of my invention. The appended claims have been drawn to cover all legitimate modifications and adaptations.

I claim:

1. A receptacle of the class described made from a single piece of flat sheet material consisting of a rectangular main body portion and smaller generally rectangular integral end extensions extending from the middle of the ends of said body portion, the body portion being bent transversely of its length to form a trough open at the ends but having a fiat bottom wall and front and rear walls that curve upwardly from the horizontal plane of the bottom wall, and the end extensions being bent substantially at right angles to the plane of the bottom wall of the trough to define end walls which abut and close the open ends of the trough, said end extensions having front lower corners cut on arcs which register with the arc of curvature of the front wall, said end extensions having rear lower corners which are of square form and project rearwardly behind the arc of curvature of the rear wall to engage a vertical wall for support of the receptacle with the top thereof in a horizontal plane substantially at right angles to said wall, and said end extensions having lugs extending from the opposite ends thereof which are bent inwardly at right angles to the planes of said end walls to define flanges having abutment with the outer sides of the front and rear walls to prevent outward displacement thereof, at least the flanges abutting the outer side of the rear Wall extending substantially the full height of the end walls.

2. A receptacle as set forth in claim 1 wherein the portions of the front and rear walls overlapped by the flange portions abutting the outer sides thereof are connected with said flange portions by interfitting projections and recesses provided on the said abutting portions, whereby to resist outward displacement of the end walls with respect to the open ends of the trough.

(References on following page) UNITED STATES PATENTS Adriance et a1 Apr. 24, 1906 Krantz Oct. 13, 1925 5 Wegener Nov. 20, 1934 Tucker Sept. 24, 1935 4 Piker Apr. 25, 1939 Kasch Jan. 6, 1942' Yawman Jan. 18, 1949 Nickerson Jan. 22, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS France 2 I Apr. 18, 1910 

